8 Reasons Duterte Is Not The “Donald Trump of the Philippines”
Oct 7, 2016 • Tim Henares
4. Speech Style
President Duterte: Digong rambles, going from topic to topic, and rarely pays attention to whatever his script tells him. This is exactly how he ends up saying all that controversial stuff in the first place. Despite that, he speaks in a very relatable way, down to his folksy use of four-letter words that now elicit laughter instead of shock from the press, because they’ve gotten so used to it by now. It works for him, because he has bucketloads of charisma to pull it off.
Presidentiable Trump: Trump eats his words, and enunciates in a weird manner. He chooses “the best words,” normally going for very short, simple, and relatable words that resonate with people who are sick and tired of hearing big words from condescending political elites. The problem is, Trump lies. A lot. Even more than Hillary Clinton does. In contrast, it is hard to ever catch Digong in a lie, given how well-spun his narrative is.
3. The Environment
President Duterte: Gina Lopez. ‘Nuff said.
Presidentiable Trump: Climate change denier. ‘Nuff said.
2. Jobs Creation
President Duterte: He has often joked that now is a good time to be a funeral parlor owner, but given that a massive chunk of his upcoming budget is geared towards infrastructure, it should be clear that he wants to make it feasible for jobs to happen beyond just Manila. It is a sound plan, even if there is no functional and actual economic platform at work at the moment.
Presidentiable Trump: It should be safe to assume that this is the one industry Trump should single-handedly, well, trump Duterte at. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have an actual plan, either.
1. Anti-Terrorism
President Duterte: Considering how we haven’t caught the perpetrators of the Davao bombing yet, and considering how our unilateral ceasefire with the NPA has resulted in them attacking the military without fear of retribution, it would be safe to say that if the terrorists decided to aggressively attack us, we are doomed.
Presidentiable Trump: They’re doomed, too. But more because Trump doesn’t have a plan, as opposed to Digong having a plan that may or may not work, but is still an actual plan.
What’s your score of Digong’s first 100 days? Get in a heated discussion with others below!
